Isn’t it interesting, having friends on the Internet who tell me about the letters, offers, customer service arguments, and other “fun” that they have, going “round and round” with Chase. It’s also always been rather dumbfounding, since being married, seeing how credit card companies treat me, or my wife differently. After two decades, two premature babies, one doctoral degree, and more than our share of consignment shops, chicken leg quarters (again), scrimping, and saving to make sure that no matter what, we always paid our bills on time (all of them), doesn’t Chase have sense enough to know that we might talk about money with one another? My astonishment goes beyond my own household in the instance of Chase: thousands of people are sharing information about its antics (site visitors and on the Internet at large). We know about disparate treatment and redlining in the credit card industry, too.
I think it should be pretty obvious to anyone who lingers on this site for just a few clicks that I do not care for the way Chase has treated my wife in the past (we closed two of her accounts ourselves after a supervisor said that Chase did not really care about keeping our business — and no, my wife had not done anything wrong — just the same old story, account changes for no good reason). I think the site says that I certainly do not like the way Chase is treating me presently, either.
And, not to forget you, dear readers, I am on your side as well. If you are a small business person, as an entrepreneurship professor (working at my day job), I care about you. In fact, this fight is actually necessary for the whole economy, because I know that even in the best of times, it’s hard to get capital, and credit cards have been used by millions of fledgling entrepreneurs (not saying that’s a great idea, but I know the situation “is what it is” — long story, read my research papers before you comment, please). For everyone else, if you are the type of person who has tried to lead a good life, acting responsibly and in good faith, then I love you, too.
I would observe that those of us ordinary citizens who are acting responsibly are evidently at odds with the credit card industry’s business model, given that it seems to be a “one trick pony,” and a very ornery one at that: get a “customer in the saddle,” run him or her through thorny bushes, knock ‘em off with a low hanging branch, and then ”kick ‘em while they’re down.”
If you had a chance to watch any of the House Financial Services Committee hearings today, you may have noticed that there was an expressed lack of interest in lowering credit card rates in response to a question about whether or not leading banking executives (all of whom have received T.A.R.P bail out money) would be willing to cut customers a little slack during this time of economic hardship. Of course, I was listening rather intently for Jamie Dimon’s response (Dimon is CEO of JP Morgan Chase). Smooth talker, wrong answer (no mercy). Thus, the image above (linked to a pdf of the front and back side of the offer that was sent to my wife) also demonstrates, to me, that the model is the same: bait the customer, hook the customer, and screw the customer. I also noticed the “limited duration” part in the current offer. With Chase, that doesn’t really matter though, since it has already proven that its “fixed APR Until the balance is paid in full” promotional offers are for a limited duration as well.
Have no fear for me or my wife regarding this latest offer (to take advantage of her — us), I don’t think you’ll have to worry about whether or not we would ever “fall for” one of Chase’s tricks again.
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on Feb 11th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
As I have commented in a prior post, I have forwarded a copy of a similar offer to Glasny. Their goal if possible, should be to get Chase to cease and desist “any low rate offer” until the legal suite is settled.
I do not know if they can do this, but my thought is that damages would be any profit Chase has made between the time of the offer and the resolution of the case.
on Feb 11th, 2009 at 10:48 pm
Well, I found this interesting… I paid off my Chase account with a balance transfer from a local (ie “small town” bank) card with a favorable interest rate. I checked today and the balance transfer went through and on the exact same day that it was posted and brought my account to ZERO balance, they added that $10 fee. HUH??? Man I hate them.
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=jizy11&s=5
on Feb 11th, 2009 at 11:14 pm
Hi Deb,
I would complain to the OCC. See my letters under the link category “Correspondence” on the right hand side of the site. Do you by any chance think that this whole ChangeInTerms site and all of my letters to date are worth the $10 that Chase wants to charge me? I’m pretty sure that right now, I’m in the “Black,” and Chase is going deeper and deeper into the “Red,” on me alone. One little OCC letter from you (everything you need is in my letters — including a Fax number) will cost Chase a lot more than $10. If you hate Chase, this is a really good way to let them know (and it would help the cause that I’m fighting for on behalf of all of us). I am particularly pleased with my letter of today, February 11, 2009. I’ve had about six lawyers look at it, and they say I’ve done a pretty darned good job of putting Chase, in its place. By the way, I looked at your site. You have a neat hobby (I like arts, crafts, photography).
on Feb 12th, 2009 at 1:58 am
Hi Sid,
Keeping in mind that I am not an attorney, I appreciate your logic about damages. However, I’d like to propose a different logic. Let’s suppose the XYZ company’s van runs over my wife and kills her. XYZ continues to make its normal profits while my family is destroyed, and my children are raised without a mother. Unable to keep up with the stresses and demands of single parenting, I lose my job. Now what’s left of my family is homeless, destitute. The van driver was drunk. XYZ knew that the van driver had a drinking problem, but the driver happened to be a cousin of XYZ’s founder. Is XYZ’s total liability, knowing it was making a very dangerous decision to put that driver on the road, behind the wheel of a deadly machine, some share or all of the profits that it made while I pursue a legal remedy for the death of my wife? The answer is, probably, a jury would award damages for pain and suffering, and quite possibly additional punitive damages for negligence (that means punishment for not taking the proper steps to avoid a bad situation, while knowing all along that one would arise).
Chase is inflicting uncalled-for pain and suffering, in my opinion, and lawyers acting on behalf of plaintiffs may very well pursue this alternative line of reasoning. Thanks for your comment (and again, I am not a lawyer). Glasney is not the only law firm that is suing or investigating the possibility of a class action lawsuit (see the “Case against Chase” report and other posts here on the site for additional information). Take care.
on Feb 12th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
The Chase change in terms says the $10 monthly service fee/finance charge applies regardless of whether you have a balance, and regardless if the account is closed. The only way to get rid of it is to close the account and settle the balance, and then they will refund only the last $10 fee.
That’s why I have been saying, Chase should have expected that anyone who got this notice would be closing their account, after all that’s what Chase was asking for. These alternative options they are offerring to those who complain, like allowing you to eliminate the monthly fee and keep the account open once you pay the balance, or to eliminate the fee if you accept a higher interest rate, are all just a ploy to retain accounts despite an extremely usurious change in terms (unforuntately, Delaware has no maximum legal interest rate).
The fundamental problem with anyone being forced to agree with the $10 service fee is that what’s to stop Chase from raising the bar and setting the service fee at $20/moth, or $100/month, or $100,000/month? And you really think they can legally force you under the existing cardmember agreement to accept a change in terms like that (i.e. without an opt-out provision) if you can’t payoff the existing balance in full? You must have some marbles loose if you think so.
on Feb 12th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
My quarrel with Chase is a bit different. I applied for and received my Visa in 1995 and have used it regularly without incident, until now. I pay my balance in full every month and always have. I paid my January bill in full with an e-payment on Jan. 15, the Thursday before the MLK birthday holiday on the 19th. Though Chase should have received my remittance well before the due date of the 17th, they chose not to process the payment until the 20th, and my February statement included a late fee of $39.00 plus an interest fee of $4.84, on a balance of $560.
Several calls to Customer Service provided no relief, so I’m considering getting even by suing them in Small Claims Court to recover the late fee and interest (I live in a remote rural town in the middle of the desert) and shifting almost all future purchases to another Visa card that was intended as overdraft protection for my checking account. I will make a monthly $1 purchase with the Chase card and pay it off as soon as the statement arrives with an e-payment, which costs me nothing. Since
Chase will still have the cost of billing me every month (don’t forget their postage expense), their cost of servicing my account will exceed any revenue from it. Imagine their losses if thousands of us angry consumers did what I described every month!
on Feb 13th, 2009 at 12:04 am
Hi Tom,
I think your charge a $1 and pay it off strategy is interesting (for those who can pay off their entire balance). It certainly sends a message, much like the one when people use the postage prepaid envelopes that often come with new credit card offers, and stuff them with trash or other useless material (which the recipient must pay for). That being said, I think the power of that message is amplified if it can be orchestrated such that your more potent suggestion, that “thousands of us angry customers” joined in; it would be even more powerful still, if we could somehow get media coverage regarding the mass-protest. You’ve got me thinking here! YouTube script:
For only a $1 a month, that’s only pennies a day, you can sponsor an effort to send a message to not-so-needy Chase executives…
I’ll be sleeping on this idea, and dreaming of defeating Chase.
on Feb 13th, 2009 at 11:20 am
Well.. I got hit with the Chase thing. Transfered $12,000 two years ago. The balance at the end of December was $3900. I say paying down the balance 66% over two years is a substantial decrease. Chase disagrees.
Simple, I called BofA and they approved a balance transfer to my BofA card for 4.99% life of balance. The original apr on Chase was 3.99. Not a big deal to me.
You can do what I did the Citibank years ago. They received a payment, but did not process it until 4 days later. I was hit with a late fee in which they refused to remove. The back of my check had the date stamped on the back of it and it was actually processed on my account four days later. I even faxed them a copy of the back of the check.. still no luck.
So.. I paid off the entire balance, plus $1. For four years, yes four year, then were sending me a statement for a $1 credit. Now.. how much did that cost them?
on Feb 13th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Not sure how the $1 protest can work given the 10 dollar fee. I was told the
fee would be assessed whether I used the account or not, merely for the privilege of having the account. For those not assessed this fee, who are receiving paper statements, I agree that it’s an excellent action.
Lyn
on Feb 13th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
What sucks is that I was paying a $65 yearly fee for the card. It was a Marriott Reward Card.
$65 + 120 = $185 a year fee to use the card. I paid off the balance on Chase with the transfer and closed the account. I call Marriott to let them know that my relationship with Marriott will now suffer because of Chase. Marriott did not seem to care.
on Feb 13th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
Hi, Lyn! To clarify, my card doesn’t have any monthly or annual fees associated with it, which probably explains why every time I called to see if I could get the late fee removed they encouraged me to close the account.
I’m not just angered that a black-hearted banking cartel is ripping me off, but these actions are also siphoning a lot of money out of the economy, and one reason we’re in such dire straits is that there’s not enough money circulating to begin with.
Tom
on Feb 14th, 2009 at 12:04 am
Tom (regarding Marriott),
I have found that the only way to get the Marriott people to care is to contact a general manager, preferably when I am attending a conference as part of a large group, and actually staying at one of its properties. Then, I let that manager know that my feedback will be to the individuals who book the conference hotel. Generally, the travel industry is not really very high up on my list of “customer service” superstars.
Regarding the encouragement that you have received to close what I gather is a perfectly good account, this just shows what a group of short-sighted people we have running banks (that owe us a whole lot of money back from the bail out money they were given).